Let us all be our brothers’ keepers
Behind the numbers there are always names, stories and faces, also many victims. Among them are young people who, today, face stark contradictions, brought about by people interested only in power, money, satisfaction and ideologies.
These people are a bad example to the rest. In an environment of fake philosophies, the young are becoming disorientated, which society defines as confused, strange and corrupt.
How do we define the history of young people today in Malta and Gozo? Many times, their hearts are full of an existential void, becoming slaves of emptiness, disorientation, crisis and unhappiness. This situation leads them to give up the dignity of living as human beings, transforming their lives as if existing in a gigantic tomb. It is a horrible tomb, one from which people long for a better life. It is also a tomb of the soul of Europe, whose people have chosen to close the doors in their face.
All that is the fruit of our egoism and ruthless laws.
We can quickly understand that these disoriented young people are badly in need of being heard, accepted, sustained and supported.
In my view, the family does not only shoulder educational responsibility but it must also play a social role, thus being watchful of what is going on around it.
Every young person has the right to be called by name because the name is, for all of us, the first certificate of existence. It testifies to our uniqueness as human beings and the importance of our own story.
Having dedicated all my life to young people, I have learnt that their life has thousands of hidden implications. Not all are understandable. They may be poor in the same way but not for the same reason.
My impulse, in fact, is never to find out what is happening by simply looking around the world and then generalise but, rather, to study more profoundly reality and the people around me through ‘new eyes’ and, so, discover ‘new things’.
The famous Don Tonino Bello used to insist we need a Church that stands with those considered to be the smallest, the most insignificant in society. The Church is for the world, not for itself. Rather than having the signs of power, what matters is the power to interpret the signs.
To help in the war on drugs in Turin, Cardinal Michele Pellegrino donated some of his personal pastoral rings, pectoral crosses and even gold objects of his diocese. For him, that move represented an exterior sign of his episcopal spirituality and the simplicity of a shepherd.
In our daily experience, as we walk along the street, we need to have our arms continuously outstretched. It is what Moses had done when he guided the Hebrew people towards the Promised Land.
We, too, must be willing to guide and help others. To give freely to others is a great gift, which is very rare in our daily life but very enriching and rewarding. One does not need to be a priest to dedicate one’s personal existence to one’s brother. Though this, also, is an opportunity we can dare doing and daring is part and parcel of daily life.
Our times are crying out, and, I would say, are ripe for an urgent reform in our lives. Regrettably, the political system – on which we depend so much seems to be deaf or unwilling to hear and accept what is right. Instead, politicians prefer to listen to the privileged few.
Morals aside, it has now become a very urgent matter to give a concrete answer as to why Maltese citizens suffer so much anxiety. That should help us to, finally, have a clean country, which is safer and more adapt to all citizens, irrespective of one’s colour or origin but only focusing on people’s rights. This, especially, when dealing with material and cultural poverty.
We must also clean certain minds, regenerate hope and enthusiasm, build a country free of favouritism, clientelism and ensure everybody is able to contribute to and be a part of this nation.
Let us open windows and doors for all the Maltese so they will know they are active citizens of Malta and Gozo.
We can help each other through advice fraught with warmth, affection, intelligence and genuine friendship, thus exposing the hypocrisy of certain people, protect each other and fight negativism.
There will always be people who, for their own personal interest, foment ambiguity, division and, especially, fragility and misunderstanding.
Hence, let there be a competition of solidarity. This will, no doubt, also help those many mothers in Malta and Gozo who cry in despair because they have lost the courage to fight.
Fr Charles Cini is a member of the Salesians of Don Bosco.
“In an environment of fake philosophies, the young are becoming disorientated